Whether walking, standing,sitting, or lying down,it flexes & stretches: this is the body's movement.Joined together with tendons & bones,plastered over with muscle & skin,hidden by complexion, the body isn't seen for what it is:filled with intestines, filled with stomach,with the lump of the liver,bladder, lungs, heart,kidneys, spleen,mucus, sweat, saliva, fat,blood, synovial fluid, bile, & oil.On top of that,in nine streams,filth is always flowing from it:from the eyes : eye secretions,from the ears : ear secretions,from the nose : mucus,from the mouth : now vomit, now phlegm, now bile.from the body : beads of sweat.And on top of that,its hollow head is filled with brains.

The fool, beset by ignorance,thinks it beautiful.But when it lies dead, swollen, livid, cast away in a charnel ground,even relatives don't care for it.Dogs feed on it,jackals, wolves, & worms.Crows & vultures feed on it,along with any other animals there.

Having heard the Awakened One's words,the discerning monkcomprehends, for he sees it for what it is:"As this is, so is that.As that, so this."Within & without,he should let desire for the body fade away.With desire & passion faded away,the discerning monk arrives here: at the deathless, the calm, the undying state of Unbinding.

This two-footed, filthy, evil-smelling,filled-with-various-carcasses,oozing-out-here-&-there body:Whoever would think,on the basis of a body like this,to exalt himself or disparage another:

What is that if not blindness?

สัพเพ สัตตา สุขีตา โหนตุ

the mountain may be heavy in and of itself, but if you're not trying to carry it it's not heavy to you- Ajaan Suwat

I think that this is possibly the greatest thing I have ever read in regards to humans 'seeing what they want to see' or even 'making their own reality'. I have always thought that man doesn't truly see anything as it is, but rather as he wants it to be. We allow ourselves to be distracted by these delusions, and I think that it creates suffering in many ways. Women suffer in wanting desperately to look like the images they see, men suffering to be with such women, and so on and so forth. I hope this makes sense--I know sometimes things are lost in translation when typing, but well, this is my 'two cents' on the topic!

*I will be keeping this reading in mind when observing the world in which we live.*

It's a very important sutta that covers similar ground, as a meditation method.

Metta,Retro.

If you have asked me of the origination of unease, then I shall explain it to you in accordance with my understanding: Whatever various forms of unease there are in the world, They originate founded in encumbering accumulation. (Pārāyanavagga)

Exalted in mind, just open and clearly aware, the recluse trained in the ways of the sages:One who is such, calmed and ever mindful, He has no sorrows! -- Udana IV, 7

This two-footed, filthy, evil-smelling,filled-with-various-carcasses,oozing-out-here-&-there body:Whoever would think,on the basis of a body like this,to exalt himself or disparage another:

This does appear to me to be a potent way of addressing our obviously irrational enchantment with our bodies as well as those of others. It does seem to point to a higher truth by the use of what is simply another form of irrational aversion. I mean, we do seem to be naturally disgusted by certain aspects of our body but is this more wise than delighting in the attractive aspects? It seems to me that this teaching while potentially effective must also have a powerful grounding of saddha and other positive emotions before it will propel us towards a state other than aversion. For those who have such positivity and are finding this kind of contemplation conducive to equanimity in regard to the body I salute you. Well done.

Metta

Gabe

"Beautifully taught is the Lord's Dhamma, immediately apparent, timeless, of the nature of a personal invitation, progressive, to be attained by the wise, each for himself." Anguttara Nikaya V.332

gabrielbranbury wrote:is this more wise than delighting in the attractive aspects?

If you're committed to abandoning lust, this is the recommended theme to contemplate - asubha saññā (perception of the unattractive):

AN 7.46 - Saññā Sutta: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... .than.html"'The perception of the unattractive, when developed & pursued, is of great fruit, of great benefit. It gains a footing in the Deathless, has the Deathless as its final end': Thus was it said. In reference to what was it said?

"When a monk's awareness often remains steeped in the perception of the unattractive, his mind shrinks away from the completion of the sexual act, bends away, pulls back, and is not drawn in, and either equanimity or loathing take a stance. Just as a cock's feather or a piece of tendon, when thrown into a fire, shrinks away, bends away, pulls back, and is not drawn in; in the same way, when a monk's awareness often remains steeped in the perception of the unattractive, his mind shrinks away from the completion of the sexual act, bends away, pulls back, and is not drawn in, and either equanimity or loathing take a stance. If, when a monk's awareness often remains steeped in the perception of the unattractive, his mind inclines to the completion of the sexual act, or if non-loathing takes a stance, then he should realize, 'I have not developed the perception of the unattractive; there is no step-by-step distinction in me; I have not arrived at the fruit of [mental] development.' In that way he is alert there. But if, when a monk's awareness often remains steeped in the perception of the unattractive, his mind shrinks away from the completion of the sexual act, bends away, pulls back, and is not drawn in, and either equanimity or loathing take a stance, then he should realize, 'I have developed the perception of the unattractive; there is a step-by-step distinction in me; I have arrived at the fruit of [mental] development.' In that way he is alert there.

"'The perception of the unattractive, when developed & pursued, is of great fruit, of great benefit. It gains a footing in the Deathless, has the Deathless as its final end': Thus was it said, and in reference to this was it said."

Of course, this is used to let go of attraction to the body and not to cultivate hatred. I agree that a grounding in saddhā (conviction) and paññā (discernment) helps in that regard.